Acetylene-generator.



No. 642,600. Patented Feb. 6,1900.

.H. GERDES.

ACETYLENE GENERATOR.

(Applicatiqn filed na 1 2, 1898.)

(No Model.)

WITNESSES. INVENTOR /W,;4 .Zm

h u. 374m ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS pnsns cm. WASHINGTON, o, c,

which may UNITED STATES Hammett-canons, or BERLIN, GERMANY, ASSIGNOR TO THE SAFETY- PATENT OFFICE.

OAR HEATING AND LIGHTING COMPANY, on NEW YORK,'N. Y.

' AQ'LETYLEN E-GEN E-RATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,600, dated February 6, 1900.

Application filed December 12, 1898. Serial No. 698,960. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I,HEINRIOHGERDES ,6I1- gineer, a subject of the German Emperor, re-

, siding at Berlin, Germany, have invented cer- 5 tain new and-useful Improvements in Acetylenc Generators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to to make and use the same.

My invention relates to acetylene-generators, and has for its object to produce a safe and efficiently-acting acetylene-generator.

To these ends my invention consists-in the 15 special matters hereinafter claimed.

With the aid of the accompanying drawing, forming part hereof, Iwill describe one form of generator embodying my invention, as required by law, it being-understood, however,

2o that I do not thereby li'mit myself to thespe cial form thus shown and described.

In the drawing, which is a sectional elevation of an apparatus embodying my invcn-' tion, A is a strong gas-tight tank or cylinder,

be ofany usual or preferred construction. Thisi-tank' is provided with a pipe B, suitable for drawing off the acetylene gas formed. It is also provided with a pipe, D, which determines or regulates the height of c the liquid E contained within the tank. This pipe D preferably dips into a water seal K', as shown. A pipe or cock d communicates with the interior of the tank A and a blow-0d device or cook a is provided ator nearthe top 5 of the said tank for a purpose presently tobe explained.

Mounted in the tank A is a suitable shaft or, capable of being rotated by a weighted handle a attached thereto, which shaft car- 0 ries a grate or platform F for receiving and supporting the carbid charge.

G is the carbid-feed conduit or pipe, located within the tank and preferably extending from the top of the said tank downward and terminating below the upper end of the pipe I), so as 'to dip below the water-line in the said tank. This pipe may be provided with a suitable distributor, shown in the present instance as a cone g, suspended from the lower end of the pipe G by straps g. Lo-

cated at the top of the tank is a carbid-feeding device or feeder, shown in the present instance as consisting of a stationary platform h, 8601116d3t0 the top of the tank and provided with an aperture h, communicating with the pipe G. The platform It supports arotary hopper or receptacle h Said hopper or receptacle is provided with a plurality of chambers a". y to receive carbid, which chambers are so located that when the receptacle h is swung one of the said chambers will be in position to discharge its contents into the tube G and the other will be in position to be filled with carbid. The receptacle h ispiv.- oted on the bolt 71 and can be swung. by the handles h or otherwise, so as to bring one or the other of the said chambers into registry withth'e tube G, one of the positions being shown'in the drawing. The bolt h is fastened to the platform It and is provided on its upper end with a square portion h and with a screw-bolt h. Upon the square portion h the stationary top plate It is mounted,

closing the chamber or or y gas-tight when;

either is in position to discharge its car-bid into the pipeG. The top plate h is secured in place' by a nut h screwed upon the bolt b When the parts are in the position shown in the drawing, the chamber y is open at the top,

access being bad thereto through the hole 72.

in the top plate, and adapted to receive carbid, while the chamber a: is closed gas-tight at the top of the stationary top plate 71 I will new state the general operations and functions of the parts. Before doing so I will state that the principal objects ofthe invention are to produce an apparatus in which acetylene may be safely generated.

It is well known that a mixture of air and acetylene is highly explosive, and at the start of the operation the part of the tank above the water-line is filled with an acetylene-gas mixture and likewise under certain conditions also contains phosphin (phosphorous hydrid 'PH in admixture, which mixture is highly explosive. '-It is almost impossible to make a tank strong enough to withstand this .of earbid through the hole h erably the pipe or cook lettered d in the drawing. When acetylene is thus forced into the generator, it drives out the acetylene and air mixture or whatever gaseous mixture may be contained in the said generator, the blow-01f device or cock (t being opened for the purpose of allowing such escape. WVhen all of the dangerous elements have been forced out, the generating operation may be started and the supply of acetylene to the apparatus stopped by closing the cock or pipe at and closing the cock ct to prevent escape of the acetylene generated. The carbid is placed in one of the chambers w or y and the feeder or receptacle It turned to bring the chamber over the pipe G into the position shown in the drawing, the spare chamber being then in such a position as to receive another charge The carbid falls out of the chamber a: down the pipe G into the water E, the lower end of the pipe G being unobstructed and the upper end being closed gas-tight through the medium of the plate h covering the chamber, which is in position to deliver carbid to the said pipe G.

The carbid is distributed by the distributer g and falls upon the grate F, where the generation occurs in the well-known manner, and the acetylene gas rises in the tank A and is withdrawn therefrom through the pipe I The pipe G dips into the water and a water seal is thereby formed, but it frequently happens that gas finds its way into the pipe G principally by being generated from the carbid dust which floats upon the surface of the water in the pipe. The upper end of the pipe being closed, as described, this gas continues to collect, and when it has accumulated sufficient pressure forces the water-level down in the pipe G and escapes around the lower edge of the said pipe into the space in the tank above E. It will be observed, therefore, that by my preliminary operation of forcing out the dangerous gas mixture I diminish the chance of explosions, and

by providing the closed feeder I prevent the escape of gas from the apparatus and at the same time provide an efficient means for feeding the carbid to the apparatus. It will be obvious that instead of providing a plurality of chambers a: y the space occupied by one of the said chambers maybe closed, as shown by the dotted lines in chamber y, so that in order to operate the apparatus it will be necessary to swing the feeder so as to bring the chamber a: from beneath the plate 72., thereby closing the upper end of the pipe G and bringing the chamber a; into a position where it may be filled with earbid, whereupon the movement of the feeder may be reversed and the carbid dropped down the tube G in the same manner as before.

Having described my invention, and particularly one mode of carrying it into effect, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In an acetylene-generator, the combination of a tank or water-receptacle, agrate or platform F for receiving and supporting the carbid charge, a carbid-feed pipe or conduit G located within the tank and extending from the top of the said tank downward, a pipe D in open communication with the side of the tank A and adapted to maintain the Waterlevel, a water seal K for the said pipe, a gasdraw-off pipe 13, a platform It supported upon thetankA, an apertured top plateh, a bolt h connecting the platform and top plate and a swinging carbid-receptacle having chanibers w y'extending entirely therethrough and adapted to be swung into the position of open com munieation' with the pipe G or with the aperture in the plate h.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HEINRICH GERDES.

Iiannv IlAsPER. 

